Feeling Like Garbage
by AchatheArcher
Summary: Maybe isn't such a bad thing? (Papstablook and Soriel focused. Also focuses on family ties between Sans and Papyrus and Napstablook and Mettaton)
1. Chapter 1

It's been a few months since the monsters left the Underground. There was still a lot of segregation to get past, but the monsters had a lot of hope it would get better. For now, though, it was all worth it just to feel the sun and fresh air everyday.

A lot of things have changed, and yet, a lot hasn't. The humans who planned one of the monster neighborhoods were not tolerant of them and intentionally planted their homes near the garbage dump. It didn't go quite as they had planned as many monsters treated the news of spying the dump closeby as finding out your new home had an apartment! And so, it wasn't completely out of the ordinary to see the monsters wandering the area, ignoring the smell in search for old and used items that could be recycled. It was how many monsters made their income in the neighborhood. Some scavenged, others cleaned, and many helped rebuild the items, and in some cases, upgrade it. Then they would sell the items to whoever wanted them. It helped bring some of the human and monsters closer together who were impressed by their optimism and handiwork that some monsters got better-paying jobs and benefits.

Papyrus could've easily moved on from moving from the garbage dump, but he loved the work! He was always finding such amazing things and he had a surprising amount of strength that he loved to volunteer to other monsters so they could cart them back home. Besides, he didn't want to go stay somewhere else without Sans following. And with how little Sans seemed to contribute (and yet, still managed to bring in his half of the rent and bills. Sometimes more than that), it didn't seem likely anyone would want to hire the brothers together.

"Nyeheheheh! Time for another day of work!" Papyrus said happily as he bounded down the stairs. He wore a worn short and overalls, along with some boots whenever he went to the garbage dump, so he wouldn't get his battle-body dirty. As soon as the monsters returned home for the day, though, he went right back to his armor.

Papyrus looks over to the couch as Sans, being the couch potato that he was, watched the tv, giving Papyrus a small morning wave as a bowl of soggy cereal rested on his stomach. And yet he always complained that humans had so many channels and very little to watch. Papyrus sighed as he pinched the bone between his eyes before walking past Sans and grabbing his coat that hung from the coathanger. He threw it on top of Sans, luckily missing the cereal bowl and Sans was too lazy to jump from surprise. "Come on, Sans, you're helping too!"

"Aww, c'mon, Papyrus, you don't need my help. When it comes to work, I don't have the muscle to pull it off," Sans grinned as Papyrus murmured an annoyed "Nyeh..."

Walking over to Sans, he took the cereal bowl, set it on the table closeby. Continuing the movement, he sat Sans up and tugged his coat on, like he was dressing a child. Sans was obedient to the movements and didn't struggle except for acting annoyingly limp, his grin still on his face. "Come on, Sans, we need the money so we can be able to help Frisk save up for the one-year anniversary party in a few months! And we're barely bringing in enough to make ends meet. At least come this time and we'll see what you can do so you can be lazy -and- somehow be productive."

Sans didn't feel that likely but let out a chuckle as he was picked up by his coat and set to stand on his own feet. "Okay, okay, Paps."

"When was the last time you were even outside?"

Sans took a moment to think as he slipped on his slippers. "...What month is it?"

It didn't take long for the skeleton brothers to make their way over to the garbage dump. Just down the road of their neighborhood and down the alley before that rocky alley would give way to a grassy hill. As they crossed over it, they'd be met with a dirt road where the garbage trucks would drive over and into the dump. They went through the open gate as Papyrus' peppy step forced Sans to keep up in a half-jog as his wrist was held by Papyrus.

As much as Sans acted unmotivated at being forced to work, he really didn't mind it. Most times, he just enjoyed acting lazy to annoy Papyrus. He loved the encouragement he felt at hearing Papyrus telling him not to act lazy. He knew he wasn't being lazy, anyway. He had several jobs that he managed to keep up with well enough, and yet, he still found the time to be the bodyguard of King Asgore and still provide the time to be with Papyrus. Maybe a little too much time.

Sans always acted dumb at Toriel's hints that she wanted something more than a friendship between them, and had he acted on a whim, he'd have been the first to offer a date with the queen. But for now, Sans was content with spending all of his time and resources on his younger brother. Toriel seemed to understand and didn't push it, content with his friendship. She secretly knew it was specifically because of Papyrus but she was happy with that.

So was Sans. He never felt obligated to stay living with Papyrus or to work so hard he could hardly stay awake. It was something he enjoyed doing, strangely enough, even if Papyrus would never know how much he really does to keep them afloat.

"Garbage Human, hello!" Papyrus waved to the manager of the garbage dump, a human. The human, his real name Rick, looked up from his post that other humans checked into to bring items too big for their dumpsters. He chuckled, giving a wave to Papyrus. He didn't seem to mind the nickname. Working with so many trucks passing by for so many years had such an effect on his hearing that he found it hard to hear among other things being yelled that his name was being called. 'Garbage Human', however, made it so easy to discern and with Papyrus' voice, it made things a little easier. He knew Papyrus wasn't being offensive, anyway.

Sans was still following along with Papyrus as they came up to Rick's post. "I'm ready to work! Sans is going to be helping out today as well."

"I noticed. Look who decided to take a step into the sun! Your bones looked more bleached than Papyrus with how much he's told me you're inside," Rick said in jest as he let out a chuckle, Sans' laugh following with the roast, "What can I say? White suits me."

Rick let out a stifled laugh as Papyrus shakes his head with a slightest smirk his jaw would give him and looks back to Rick. "Where's everyone gathering today?"

They worked in specific areas of the dump every few days, mostly to stay out of the way of the human garbage workers. And so, the monsters soon grew used to this system and had formed work areas among the different sections. This area would be use to clean some of the items and begin repairing them. Many times a monster could just bring them home to their own workshop, but they enjoyed the community helping along.

The monsters were usually grouped off into several teams of workers, though, no monster was required to stick to only one group. They could branch off whenever one team was particularly short on monsters. The teams were mainly composed of the Scavengers, Cleaners, and Crafters.

They reached the work area in the middle of the scrap piles monsters were going back and forth from every so often with something they thought might be useful to the crafters. Papyrus had to come to a stop on his toes as the monster child, lovingly nicknamed Stickyface ran by them, calling back to them with a muffled apology as he carried a bucket of fresh water to the cleaners. Papyrus let out a thoughtful hum as he looked towards where Stickyface ran off before smiling to Sans. "There we go, you can go help the cleaners!"

"Aww, c'mon, Paps," Sans almost said with actual remorse at the suggestion. He knew Papyrus wasn't on the cleaning team and he'd have rather join him with the scavengers since Papyrus was someone Sans actually knew. Plus, he could keep Papyrus out of trouble, which he did often with his naivety.

"Now, now, you want to be a lazy-bones, you're going to be treated as one!" Papyrus said in his superiority voice. He liked acting like the older brother of the two and it made it easier with the heights for people to confuse their ages. "All you're going to do is sit and just scrub or hose something. It's not that hard. But, the great Papyrus will be hard at work, traveling the treacherous lands that is this garbage dump in hopes of finding something worthwhi- Oof!"

As Papyrus was walking towards the cleaners with Sans, neither of them were paying attention as they both tripped over what seemed like nothing but as they looked back, they saw Napstablook lying on the ground, staring up to the sky. "Oh, no! Napstablook, are you okay?!"

Napstablook didn't answer, still staring up at the sky. Papyrus began to panic. "Oh, no, I think we caused serious harm to him! We should take him to the hospital! Is there any ghost hospitals?!"

As Papyrus kept rambling on in panic, Sans walked up to Napstablook and tapped where his shoulder would be gently. Napstablook barely seemed alerted to their presence and Sans seemed to notice the faint music being played over the headphones Napstablook was wearing somehow quieting down. How did he do that?

"Y'okay, Napstablook?" Sans asked as Napstablook acknowledged, Papyrus pausing as he looks back to Napstablook, almost ready to call 911 on his cellphone. Napstablook tilted his head with a blank expression. "I guess I'm okay."

"We're so sorry, Napstablook! We thought we hurt you. We didn't see you coming!" Papyrus said as he joins Sans but Napstablook only shook his head with a sad smile. "I'm used to it...It didn't hurt, anyway."

Sans looked to Napstablook with a lopsided frown, at least as far as his boney "lips" could manage. He wasn't close to Napstablook but when they interacted, he felt bad with how gloomy he always was. Papyrus never seemed to notice, though, as he continued. "Well, that's good, at least! I'm surprised to see you here, Napstablook. I thought you got a job working at the music store downtown!"

Napstablook's eyes cast downwards as he floated in front of the two. "I do, but sometimes, I like lying in the dump and feeling like garbage..."

Papyrus swung a fist in front of him in a joyful gesture. "Well, that's just fantastic!"

Napstablook, unintentionally thinking that it was an insult let out a soft "Ohh..." before he continues. "I'll just get out of everyone's way..."

Papyrus waved a goodbye to Napstablook as he phased away before he looks to Sans who was returning Papyrus' glance with a disapproving frown. "...What?"

Sans didn't answer, still giving him that frown a mother would be jealous of. "...What? What I say?!"

Papyrus was frustrated at what he could've done wrong. He could NOT stand that look when Sans gave it to him, moreso when he doesn't explain WHY.

"Papyrus, don't say that. Feeling like garbage isn't exactly a good thing," Sans said with some experience in his voice. He knew a bit about that. Papyrus, however, had no idea. "Huh? Why would feel like garbage be a bad thing?"

Sans looks to Papyrus, sometimes amazed at how much can go over his head. It wasn't always a bad thing. Papyrus was usually unaware of when someone was insulting him. But it led to Sans having to explain a lot of things to him. Before Sans could explain this, Papyrus continued, "There's nothing wrong with feeling like garbage. I mean, look at all this!"

Papyrus swung his arm out dramatically, always an overly-animated speaker as he was, gesturing to the stinking piles of garbage in the near distance. "Every little piece of garbage is capable of being made into something great! Maybe even better than what it was before. All it takes is the right person to see the potential in it, clean it up and make it beautiful enough for everyone to cherish."

Sans couldn't help but to start laughing as Papyrus looks back down to him in confusion, not knowing what was so funny. He start scanning his words to make sure he didn't accidentally say a pun for Sans to find but he was still confused. Sans' wide grin was back as he let out one more laugh at how his brother could find the good in everything. "Yeah, well...Seriously, though, Papy, if that's true, Napstablook still needs to find that right person."

A light bulb practically sprung up above Papyrus' head at what Sans said and stands proudly, or at least, as proud as he could without his battle-body. "You're right, Sans! And who better to be the right person than the Great Papyrus! I shall become his friend and he shall see the good part of being garbage!"

Sans lets out a snicker as Papyrus went off towards the scavenging area with gusto, completely forgetting Sans was supposed to be working. "Y'do that, bro. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to everyone for showing an interest in the story! I hope you're all enjoying it. Please, leave a review so I can improve and send out my chapters a little faster! I found this really interesting to write out because it shows just how much social anxiety Napstablook has to work through.  
_

After getting off work that day, Papyrus went back home to wash off after a hard, but productive day and changed into his battle-body. It always felt too long that he went on without it but he couldn't look very heroic stained with trash, could he? It was bad enough whenever he would accidentally spill spaghetti on it. Speaking of, human detergent was AMAZING.

Papyrus was hard at work in the kitchen again as he was cooking his famous spaghetti. He was admittedly getting much better at cooking watching other cooking shows and Toriel teaching him when she wasn't busy with Frisk. One of the first rules he was taught was not to boil the pasta still in the box, which proved to be a big step into wondrous cooking. He was more joyous at how many different kinds of pasta and sauces he could be able to work with and he was occasionally experimenting with the conversation. But nothing was ever quite as good as spaghetti!

"Hey, Papyrus," Sans said as he seemed to appear behind Papyrus cooking with an apron that said, "Don't kiss the cook, because he doesn't have any lips."

"My brother," Papyrus said in a warm greeting as he grinned down to the older sibling, stirring the pasta quickly. It was probably overcooked by now. Sans would secretly just eat food from Grillby's or any human take-out instead of eating the pasta most times. Every couple of weeks, he'd give Papyrus the benefit of the doubt to see how much he's improved. So far, his calculation that he would make something edible after a year looks like it's going to be accurate.

Sans would kick a stool over and stand on it to peer easily into the pasta pot. It looked more than easier. Probably about two boxes worth. "Going to be leftover night, huh?"

"Not tonight, brother! I will be going to Napstablook's house for dinner today so he can enjoy my spaghetti, so I made extra," Papyrus grinned confidently. This was just the first step to making friends. Eventually, he would come up with puzzles and then fight Napstablook to reach the highest form of friendship. He was getting rusty, anyway.

At least it would be easier for Sans to get some takeout. He might give his part of his spaghetti to the dog. Still, Sans couldn't help but to grin at the steps Papyrus was taking, "Okay, bro. Just make sure you got your phone with you when you leave."

"Of course! I would never slack off from checking on you, Sans."

The sun was already beginning to go down as Papyrus made his way to the music store where Napstablook worked and lived. Papyrus carried two bowls of spaghetti, balanced on top of each other, luckily with plastic wrap as a barrier. He lived in a room above the store and the owner loved making jokes that he has a ghost in his attic. Papyrus walked along with long strides, humming happily before he'd knock on the door leading upstairs.

Napstablook picked up his head for a moment as he was working on his computer with his latest track. He played back the song, thinking there was a mistake he made until he noticed that he didn't hear that strange beat again. He was about to play it again before he hears another knock at his door with the music off. Smiling sheepishly to himself, he couldn't help but wonder who would be here this time of day. No one ever visited him in his room.

Napstablook floated down the stairs and Papyrus didn't question it as the door seemed to swing open on its own as Napstablook peeked his head around. "O-Oh, hello, Papyrus..."

Napstablook seemed uncomfortable seeing Papyrus after earlier but he couldn't help but notice the bright grin on Papyrus' face. Even if he wanted to do something about Papyrus being there, that smile looked too happy to have any ill intentions, especially as Papyrus spoke up, "I hope I'm not interrupting Napstablook, but I was thinking you could use some company. So...I thought you'd like to have some dinner!"

Napstablook blinks in shock at the suggestion. The only one who ever offered their company was Frisk and even Frisk was finding that hard to accomplish with school starting. Napstablook couldn't help but to smile ever so gently. "That's really thoughtful of you, Papyrus. That does sound nice. Umm...Go ahead and come in if you want to. No pressure."

Napstablook left the door open and floated upstairs. Papyrus followed right behind as the door closed on its own before he'd peer around the room. He wasn't sure what he was expecting in Napstablook's room but it seemed cozy enough. There were an old, green couch sitting across from a tv, that he guessed was a hand-me-down, resting on the floo. He was half-surprised to see an old game console resting in front of tv on the floor. Napstablook didn't seem much of a gamer, but then, Papyrus wasn't either until coming to the surface! And of course, closeby to the tv was a computer desk with a surprisingly brand-new PC resting on it. With the buzz of the refrigerator, it was mostly quiet and it seemed comfy but there wasn't much decoration except...

"Oh, you watch Mettaton too?!" Papyrus exclaimed happily as he spotted the poster hanging on the wall. Unlike most things in the room, besides his computer, it seemed Napstablook took really special care of this particular poster that Papyrus' eyes scanned it as if there MUST have been an autograph on it somewhere.

"Oh, sometimes...It's the only channel I ever really watch," Napstablook spoke as he floated back and let Papyrus explore his room, as was monster culture. They found it a little strange when humans seemed to think it was out of the ordinary to explore someone's house and room for the first time and ask questions about it. They seemed more recluse and only subtly made glances around the room.

"Oh, me too! Though, sometimes, Sans likes to watch something else on his turn so then I watch with him. You're lucky you have your own tv," Papyrus smiled before he looks around for a place to put the spaghetti. Napstablook seemed to notice as he seems to levitate the bowl himself in front of Papyrus. "Here, I got it..."

"Why, thank you, Napstablook." Papyrus smiles warmly as he goes to sit down on the couch closeby. Napstablook, unsure of what to do at this point, sat down with Papyrus. The spaghetti floated in front of Napstablook as the second bowl rested on Papyrus' lap with a strange silence. Napstablook tried to remember what to do before he slowly speaks, "Do...you...want to watch tv?"

"Good idea!" Papyrus spoke up, apparently not disturbed by the awkward silence that had gone between them. Napstablook brought the remote over and turned it on. The volume on the tv was low as it turned on to MTT channel and the sound of Mettaton's voice was heard in a soap opera.

Napstablook normally laid on his front to watch Mettaton in front of the tv and sitting back, he quickly turned up the volume to a comfortable level. The tv seemed to bring some relief of the social anxiety Napstablook felt and Papyrus began to eat as he watched Mettaton on the screen.

"Are we having fun yet?" Mettaton spoke on the tv as, in his more animated body, he was covered in flour and a girl giggled to him.

Napstablook didn't pay much attention to the plot and just focused on Mettaton with a soft smile at seeing how happy he was on air. He almost didn't hear Papyrus before he snaps from his thoughts and looks up, deciding it best to take off his headphones for now. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if there was something wrong with the spaghetti?" Papyrus was looking to Napstablook with a concerned expression as he saw the spaghetti still floating in front of him, untouched and probably cold by now.

"Oh, n-no, umm...Just..." Napstablook looked to the spaghetti with a lopsided frown, bringing it closer and he took the fork. He opened his mouth to try to shove spaghetti in but it phased through him as he expected.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know, Napstablook!" Papyrus said in shock. He didn't know ghosts were actually...ghost-y!

"It's okay, Papyrus, I'm used to it." Napstablook smiled reassuringly as he could. He honestly didn't expect anything else to happen.

"But, then how do you..." Papyrus asked curiously, looking to the headphones that rested next to Napstablook, not to mention the couch he was sitting on. Napstablook explained slowly, like he was ready to cut himself off once Papyrus got bored. "It's not very complicated or interesting...With ghosts, we usually phase through most items. But items we have a strong bond to, we don't phase through, like my headphones. And...I'm not really sitting on the couch. I'm still only floating on it."

Papyrus nods slowly, apparently really intrigued by the idea. It made sense and he didn't know much about ghosts except about the one that used to live outside Undyne's home in the Underground. Undyne would keep him there in hopes of him getting so angry at her beatings to his body, he'd eventually become corporeal. "Is that how it works with getting a body?"

"Oh...I'm not sure...That's what they mostly say, but I never wanted a body. It seems to take a lot longer to form a bond to a new body than with something you really like," Napstablook said with the slightest ghostly shrug he could manage. Papyrus smiled to the ghost as his empty spaghetti bowl rested on his lap. "That's good, then! At least you're happy being just who you are."

Napstablook grew quiet as he remembered an old conversation before smiling softly to Papyrus, leaving the conversation at that.

For a couple of hours, Papyrus and Napstablook spent the time watching tv. It was surprisingly comfortable for Napstablook after a while, just sitting in silence with Papyrus with the noise in the background. If it wasn't for the tv, he'd have been stressing himself out, thinking of what to talk about, are they bored of him? Should he leave his own room? Papyrus didn't mind it either. In fact, it was how a lot of times he and his brother spent together, along with their adventures.

Finally, Papyrus let out a yawn, not realizing how late it was as he checks his phone, seeing it was a quarter past ten. Much later than his nine o'clock bedtime. He hoped Sans was still awake to read him a bedtime story. "I really should be getting home before my brother starts to worry, Napstablook."

Napstablook looks up from the tv, smiling softly as he nods to Papyrus. There was that nagging thought in the back of his head that Papyrus was just trying to escape but he was working hard to ignore it. "All right. Be careful going home, Papyrus."

"As always, Napstablook! It was nice hanging out with you today," Papyrus gave him a bright smile that met his eyesockets. "We should do this more often."

Napstablook paused for a moment, unsure of the idea. He managed to do well this time, but again? Papyrus saw Napstablook hesitate, his smile dying down some. "Unless, you don't have the time?"

"N-No! It's fine, really. You can visit me anytime, even if I'm working at the music store."

 _Oh, god, no, what are you doing? What are you DOING? He's going to feel obligated to come visit you now._

"That sounds great! I'll come visit tomorrow then. We usually take this day as a break from work," Papyrus' smile returned again and Napstablook returned it nervously. "A-All right."

 _Now you've done it._

Napstablook floated down after Papyrus as he made his way down the stairs and opened the door for him. Napstablook looked out at how dark it was except for the streetlights, almost tempted to follow Papyrus to make sure he would be okay. _No, that would be too clingy._

Papyrus noticed the concern on Napstablook's face, giving him a reassuring smile. "Not to worry, Napstablook. The Great Papyrus can face any dangers on the walk home! Actually, if you want, I can message you when I get home. What's your UnderNet name?"

 _He's only doing this to be nice._

"It's...Napstablook22. But you don't have to worry, Papyrus. It's okay," Napstablook spoke slowly.

"It's okay! If you get a friend request from CoolSkeleton95, that's me! I'll add you when I get home! Good night, Napstablook!" Papyrus calls back as he runs off.

Napstablook floated a few moments outside before he goes back inside and closes the door. He lets out a full sigh of relief as all of the tension was gone now and moved to lean against the door. Forgetting he was a ghost, he only fell through it and ended up on the ground outside, his bottom half still in his room. "Oh..."

It seemed like a good spot as any to feel like garbage.


End file.
